RT-AC87U

I bought this to replace a much loved Draytek 2820, which tops out at 28Mbps throughput. I felt pushed to change as the Sky Fibre compatible firmware is not being updated with the security patches that Draytek have made to the generic firmware over the past two years.Draytek doesn't do AC routers yet, and I now have Sky Fibre 40/10. So if I wanted AC WiFi and full speed Internet access the choice of routers was down to Asus or Billion. Otherwise I was going to be stuck using the Sky supplied router, which wouldn't even support port forwarding without forcing it using upnp.First up: to for this unit to work with Sky you need to instal an alternate firmware. Merlin at the least, or DD-WRT if you want to really go to town on the features that this hardware can support.The AsusWRT firmware is easy to use, but will not work with Sky.Installing Merlin is really simple, and after a little hassle with the syntax it was up on the Sky network in about 5mins. Now I have full speed 40Mbps down and 10Mbps up-link networking.Coming from the Draytek and Sky 802.11n routers, the new WiFi performance is simply astonishing. Even using "n" equipment this router makes a huge difference to the coverage and speed in my house. I have removed my Wifi access points, they are no longer needed.If your laptop can take it, inserting a £17 AC capable WiFi card will see an amazing speed jump. I'm getting 897Mbps from a 2x2 Intel dual WiFi/Bluetooth card on 5Ghz. I can stream HD vids and synchronise large hard drives at the same time with ease now on the same WiFi network.The setup interface of Merlin is almost identical to the stock Asus firmware, but with useful additions to the stock menus. Asus state full support for DD-WRT as well on their web site. So you can make use of this extremely capable hardware with your own choice of setup and firmware capabilities.The standard Asus AsusWRT firmware makes setup simple and does most things well.Merlin extends the AsusWRT firmware to allow use with ...Sky Fibre (and I assume Sky ADSL/2+ too, but I haven't tried it)Additional ddns providers (including the incredibly useful "dnsomatic" - yes, really look them up)Ability to run embedded extension optware apps....and many other features that I have yet to make use of.DD-WRT adds just about anything else that you care to name that a router can do - and Asus supports its use on this router.Yes, this is an expensive router (£199 at the time of writing) but the hardware is really, genuinely, fast. So far it has been rock solid reliable too over several weeks.If you want the sheer level of configuration features of a Draytek router but with vastly better WiFi networking, then this unit running DD-WRT is cheaper than a Draytek router.For the rest of us who just want the fastest route for our data - this is just about it at the moment.As you can see, I definitely recommend this router.

Bought one of these to replace my existing Asus N66U, which had been very reliable but was just lacking a bit of range/signal strength to the outer reaches of the house.first thing you notice is that its significantly larger than the N66U, which for me is not a problem as it sits on a desk. it might look a bit obtrusive if it were wall mounted.setup is the usual with Asus routers and takes about 5-10 minutes in total. am using it attached to a Virgin superhub which is in modem mode. lots of extra options if you want to configure them like QoS and anti-malware protection, but the defaults will get you online and working out of the box.i purchased this for the increased range. i have a Smart TV at the other side of the house that has internet access. i also had some rooms with dead spots. after 2 days of use, i can confirm that it has made an improvement with regards to the areas that weak signals in some parts of the rooms, and i now have 2-3 bars of signal strength and can watch iplayer now, whereas before i could barely connect to the WiFi, let alone stream anything.i also used to have a hard drive attached to my N66U and had it set up as a DLNA media server. the signal was weak to one my TVs and YouTube and internet access were slow and intermittent. the AC87U has improved the internet connectivity and YouTube now works perfectly in HD, but streaming movies from the hard disk attached is still flaky and pauses, similar to my older N66U. it works very well on a TV closer to the router. am hoping a subsequent firmware update will resolve this, or i might try Merlin's firmware, which has more features and is updated more often.in conclusion, the strength of the signal is much stronger, but the range is not much further than i had with the N66U, at least in my house with its brick walls and 3 floors. its still a very good router, which feels very well made and should last a few years once more devices that support AC are released.i will edit/update this after the next firmware update which should not be more than a few weeks away, given how frequently Asus has released them in the past for other new devices.UPDATE 28/10/14had the product another week and still solidly working. have moved its position and the position of the antennas and its made a difference. had the 4 antennas fanned out vertically (\||/), but have found reception is improved if they are angled from the vertical as well as side ways. very happy with this router. will stick with the 4 star rating though, because it is quite expensive. would be nice if it were available at the US price of $270 (approx £180)